Hey everyone! After watching GX, I feel like Camula was dealt a bad hand, especially since she had a sympathetic backstory. So I've decided to make some fanfiction starring her and a slow-blooming romance between her and my OC! I hope you guys like it.
A Second Chance for the Soulless
Prologue: A Deal of a Lifetime
A noblewoman wearing a beautiful maroon dress would stroll down the ornate halls of her mansion, a glass of wine in her hand, as crimson and pungent as blood. A listless smile spread across the woman's face as she looked up at one of the many paintings that honored her home.
The painting depicted the green-haired woman in a white dress with gold trimmings and silver ribbons standing on top of a lonely vista. This painting was made when she first inherited this mansion of refined splendor, a reminder of her hard-earned success.
The woman would take a long sip of her wine before letting out a forlorn sigh.
"Oh, the memories..." She lamented with nostalgic melancholy. The woman has been through both tragedies and miracles, so having a place to call home was amazing. She endured the sorrows, joys, anger, and fears, all of which culminated in this mansion.
The mansion was lonesome, just as the woman liked it. Some nobles hate being alone in their grand mansions, preferring to litter the halls and rooms with maids or butlers, but she prefers the solitude.
But this, as with life, soon came to an end.
The rabble of paranoid men and women emerged outside of the manor. Rumors of the woman's true nature ran rampant throughout the nearby village that she seldom visited. The woman never expected their threats to have weight in them until now.
Before the noblewoman could confront them and placate their fears, a shattering crash screamed through one of her windows, then another as they shattered from stones and bricks. Within moments, the manor started to blaze in flames, set off by a wayward torch that was thrown into the manor.
The Noblewoman desperately tried to escape her home but she was crushed by a pile of burning billows, trapping her underneath.
The woman could only scream in this crackling wood prison as her dreams were crushed like her very being.
When the villagers discovered the green-haired woman in the midst of wanton looting, she remained immaculate, only marred by motes of ash and chips of burnt pew.
Despite the smoke, her memories were as clear as day. She remembered the villagers uncovering her amidst her ravaged manor, she remembered them tying her up and then throwing her into a coffin. She remembered the sounds of chains rattling and dirt being thrown upon her confined prison before they dropped her down to the earth, sending her into eternal darkness.
After months of being deep within the earth, she felt nothing but fear, panic, and sorrow, her beatless heart ached and her empty stomach churned. Was this sensation guilt? Was it remorse? Camula wasn't sure, her mind was as dark as the prison she was trapped in.
She then remembered being finally rescued by an old man who yearned for eternal youth, but not without a price.
She remembered dueling two fools and sealing them into dolls, one out of their incompetence and the other out of a foolish love for their younger brother.
She remembered her pride swelling as her victories mounted.
And finally, she remembered the fall that came after, as her slayer laughed at her demise.
These were the same memories Camula had to relive, in a personal hell of her own making after an ill-fated duel against a lucky fool by the name of Jaden Yuki. The mere thought of the boy wrought a feverish hatred in the woman's unfeeling spirit.
Unlike Kagemaru and his Shadow Riders, her goals were noble; she wanted to revive her people and bring them back to their former glory. As a reward for Camula's selflessness, she now wanders a listless void, forever bound to relive painful memories for all eternity.
At first, Camula would try to change her fate through her trips down memory lane, but no matter what she did, nothing changed, she tried to reason, she tried force, but it all ended in the same outcome, the destruction of her home and the burial of her being.
Camula has no idea how long she endured this personal hell, it may have been weeks, it may have been months, or it may even have been a mere five minutes so that her unseen tormentor can torture her forevermore. She desired to escape, she needed to escape, she must escape.
With no other options, Camula resorted to the most cowardly way of trying to change her fate. She clasped her ghostly hands together and pleaded for mercy, begging for someone, something, to save her from this torment, just as Kagemaru saved her from her underground prison.
"Please...someone...Save me from this horrible fate..."
She spoke to no one, and thus nobody came.
Until something spoke back, its voice was as cold as ice and as deep as the deepest trench.
"Your desperate pleas shall be heard...But you'll need more than whimpers and tears to placate the price."
"What is your price? I will pay anything to get a second chance," Camula desperately asked, knowing that this price would be dire.
The voice laughed at Camula's whimpering, seeing such a powerful and vain woman reduced to a hopeless and groveling revenant was a delectable sight indeed.
"A simple price; a soul, but not just any soul" A single mote of white appeared in front of Camula.
"I demand a soul that embodies all that you never had; kindness, love, humility, and honor."
"You will return to the mortal realm as a human, then you shall find this soul, and take it from them in a shadow duel! Then you will return to the mortal realm as the true you."The mote began to shimmer and mold into a simple heart-shaped necklace, its color is a dull grey, looking akin to that of ashy-bone than a beautiful diamond.
"As you command..." Camula accepted obediently. Greedily, Camula snatched the locket and cupped it in her hands.
"I go by many names...But you shall call me..." A single tear appeared in the middle of this memory-flooded void. This scar in the afterlife bled a blinding light, yet the light did not harm Camula, the light felt inviting, a glimmer of hope within the depths of despair.
Cautiously, Camula wandered to the light, but with each step, her vampiric power waned, shedding away like broken chains that once bound her restless spirit to the afterlife.
"The Light...Of Destruction..."
With the loss of her vampirism comes a second chance and the promise of regaining her immortality for one measly soul from some random fool, which Camula will no doubt manipulate and betray.
An evil smile grew on Camula's lips, she will serve this 'Light of Destruction' for now, but once she regains her unholy powers, she will return to Kagemaru. After all, Camula had another deal she had to check on.
A pounding heart, a heaving pair of lungs, and goosebumps on her skin.
These were the first things that Camula felt upon crossing over. Her senses, which had become dulled in the afterlife, had resurfaced with intense feelings that swelled in her now beating vampirism mostly muted these senses, with only the taste of blood being the only thing that could raise them, so having them flow back to her was breathtaking.
She could smell the cool, crisp air, hear the flowing trees, feel the warm grass, and see the clear blue sky. This beautiful sensation convinced Camula to spend the first ten minutes of her new mortal life just lying on the grassland, taking in the sounds, the warmth, and the harmony that her vampiric self had long forgotten.
When she was done, Camula then glanced down at her clothes. It was not the beautiful maroon dress she last wore but rather a sleeveless blue and white vest with a popped collar, and a deep blue skirt, a bit too short for Camula's taste.
This free feeling of grass against her legs made the woman jump to her feet before she fully looked at her clothes from neck to toe. She distinctly remembers this tight-fitting outfit being worn by that blonde girl who accompanied Jaden and his friends. The only thing that was reminiscent of her old outfit were the red laces that wrapped around her shins, sprouting from a pair of red ballet shoes.
'Don't tell me...' Camula growled under her breath, realizing what had happened.
She was resurrected as a student at that dreadful dueling academy, no doubt as a cruel joke by the Light.
Camula at least has her deck and a standard duel disk, so she didn't have to waste time searching for one.
Camula looked around and saw herself in the forest of Duel Academy island, next to a looked over at the pool of water and examined her face using it as a mirror.
To her frustration, she is not a vampire anymore, but to her relief, her looks have not been altered, her face remains the same, as do her long green locks and her striking crimson eyes. She does have normal round ears, though, but that is a small price to pay if it means looking like her beautiful self. Around her neck was the dull, gray heart pendant, a reminder of her deal.
Standing up and dusting herself off, Camula made her way out of the forest and onto the academy path.
The Light has given Camula the bare essentials for accomplishing her task; a mortal body, the gray heart pendant, and the clothes on her back.
First things first, Camula must find some fool to manipulate into a shadow duel, then she must go back to Kagemaru and remind him to keep his end of the bargain, regardless if she failed or not.
A devilish laugh escaped from Camula as a smile crept up on her lips. This was going to be too easy.
At least until her stomach growled.
It seems like returning to the afterlife can make even a former vampire hungry.
Camula cursed herself for her weakness, she had been revived for no more than half an hour, and like a petulant schoolgirl, her tummy was rumbling for something to eat.
"Damn it...Fine, but I'm not going to eat grubs and berries like some lowly savage...Now, where is..." Before Camula could finish her sentence, a wayward scent of sweet sugar met her nose, teasing her to follow like a hungry bear to a trap. And like a gluttonous bear, Camula let her empty stomach guide her off of the forest path to where the delectable scent was.
Camula found herself looking above a lonely tree branch near a small swampy was a deathly quiet hive, hanging low from a branch, its tiny entrance dripping with a trail of delectable yellow honey.
The former vampire lady cursed herself once more, how could she be so stupid to not assume that she would not have to get some honey from a beehive?
Regardless, the hive looked quiet enough. Camula licked her lips as her eyes locked onto the nest, her new mortal hunger overcoming her once cold-blooded thinking. If she had her vampire powers, she would've commanded these mindless bees like a horde of thralls and sent them to the nearby pond to drown...But she wouldn't be able to taste it so why even bother?
The former vampire lady then heard a noise, she was not alone. Camula's first instinct was to stand her ground and scare the incoming stranger away, but without the night sky and her old self, she was as scary as...A schoolgirl.
So Camula went with her second instinct, she quickly dropped to some nearby bushes and watched for who was coming.
To her surprise, it was another student, he wore a mustard yellow long-jacket that trailed down like a trenchcoat and a pair of black jeans. The rest of the boy's outfit was bizarre.
The student wore a mantle of brown strips and tufts of leather, looking like a haggard coat cape with strands of long black streamers. His face was covered in a frayed hood and a pointy mask shaped like a bird's beak. His belt was tacked with random items such as pliers, a mason jar, and a dueling disk, whether by accident or design.
The way the young man moved was sporadic and strange, as if he were some kind of mosquito, fluttering and randomly jerking as he murmured under his mask.
At first, Camula was taken aback by the strange boy before a devious smile formed on her lips. 'This foolish boy is my ticket back to my former glory! But I'll let this idiot get stung by a horde of bees before making my move,' She promised as she rubbed her fingers, gleefully hoping for the boy to mess with the hive.
The masked boy looked up to see the hive and the same honeyed thoughts that Camula had coursed through his mind.
Camula's eyes gleamed with anticipation, but they quickly turned to surprise when the boy pulled out a...Tea Kettle?
It was a tea kettle, it had the same black ceramic, filter, and everything! Instead of piping hot steam, it was a pungent black smoke that came out the top. After a few shakes, the boy would funnel the smoke through the beehive, as if purposefully angering the hive and its inhabitants.
The stranger nodded to himself, then brought out a jar from his loaded belt and tilted the hive. Camula expected a stream of angry bees but instead, a slow stream of golden honey poured from the hive, like a dutiful servant.
Camula's jaw dropped, she couldn't believe it! Here Camula was, hiding in a dirty shrub, hoping that this idiot would get stung, and instead of that, he was getting a jarful of what she wanted in the first place!
"What a lucky little runt..." Camula growled. That teapot must've had some sort of sleep-inducing herbs, that would explain the smoke and that would explain why this fool isn't a human sting cushion by now.
Regardless, if Camula wanted something, she'll get it, powers or not.
"E-Excuse me?" Camula began as she got out of her hiding spot, not as a dignified woman but as a timid schoolgirl.
The stranger was just about done when Camula approached him, with the façade of a damsel in distress. The stranger paused before his mask turned to Camula's way. Silently the boy crooked his head to her, at least Camula had his attention.
"H-Hi, I'm Camu-Cammy..." She ad-libbed, biting her tongue just before she could give out her true name.
The boy didn't respond, he merely stared at Camula, his head crooked and his stance still. Camula could slap this silent fool right now, he should be grateful that a gorgeous girl like her would barely acknowledge him, and yet he barely acknowledged Camula's presence.
"I'm an n-new student at Duel Academy, a-and I saw t-that hive and I all I could think was that s-sweet honey..." Camula will have to act stupid, just like this fool was acting.
The boy only replied with a stare, with the occasional blink of his royal purple eyes.
"C-Can I have some? P-Please?" Camula then, to garner a reaction would take a step closer to the boy and quivered her lips.
Once again, the boy silently stared back.
Camula's mask finally broke, her puppy-dog eyes narrowed into a glare and her face soured into a scowl. 'How DARE this boy treat me like some sort of unseen beggar! I'll show him!' she fumed.
"That's it! I had enough of your silent treatment fool! I am Camula! And I will not be ignored-" Finally, the boy reacted to Camula as he quickly placed a gloved hand in front of her mouth. Camula flinched and quickly threw back a hand of her own, ready to strike at the boy but then froze.
A loud buzzing screech was right next to her ears.
Camula nervously looked to her side, and there she saw on her shoulder; a bee, as big as a plum, a lost scout for the smoke-induced hive. All it took was a single sting to alert the rest of the hive to attack.
"Sorry," The boy finally spoke, he sounded nervous, a stark contrast to his eerie mantle and mask.
"Be very still, and quiet..." Without another word, the boy then plucked a single wildflower from the grass.
The boy nodded, more to himself than to Camula, and with a gentle prod in the bee's direction, tried to coax the insect off of Camula's shoulder. The bee took to the flower like a fly to a zapper and crawled its way off of Camula's shoulder and onto the yellow blossom. With another nod, the boy then planted the flower back on the ground, safe and sound.
Camula was astounded by the boy's gentleness, he handled that rouge bee like it was a duckling that lost its way to the stream. It was only now Camula noticed how tall the boy was compared to her. The boy stood about a head taller than Camula, and she wasn't short either.
Perhaps he wasn't as much of an uncouth fool as Camula thought... The perfect soul to be reaped to bring back her own.
"T-That was quite a predicament, wasn't it? You almost got stung, and the rest of the army would've been called. The boy lamented with a sigh of relief.
"B-But r-regardless, my name is Orion Yew!" With a curtsy bow, the boy introduced himself. Orion would've seemed prim and proper if his mask didn't clumsily fall off, Orion immediately tried to scramble for it, only to have his duel disk drop onto the ground when he picked it up. When Orion picked something back up, something else from his mantle slipped to the ground, repeating the process.
Camula stared down at the clumsy Orion, perhaps she was a bit too hasty with her assumptions.
Sheepishly, the boy stood up, accidentally kicking back his hood and unfurling his head of long black hair, his green highlights looking like grass clippings scattered throughout his black locks.
Camula got a good look at the boy's revealed face; his face was slender and sharp, which matched his tall and athletic frame, Camula would've even called the boy handsome if he didn't wear such an ugly mantle and mask; it made him look like a drug-addled vagrant.
"S-Sorry that I didn't say anything...As soon as I saw the bee on your shoulder...I tried to warn you...but that would upset the bee, and bees are easily agitated-" Orion stuttered and then bowed to Camula in apology. Despite the boy's height, his composure was meek and skittish, like a fluttering moth. While soft and calm, his voice was stilted and awkward, as if he wasn't used to speaking to others or if English wasn't his first language.
Considering how he dresses and acts, Camula assumed the former.
"But anyway, Cammy was it? I was going to use the honey for something, but you can have it." Without a second thought, Orion gave the jar to Camula.
Camula curved a brow as she eyed the honey "You're simply giving it to me? Just like that?" she questioned.
Orion replied with a small kind smile. "Of course!" He then pointed a thumb toward his chest "New students should be helped," He then blushed a heavy shade of red.
"U-Um Not to imply that you needed help! Uh-uh..." Orion then hastily bowed again in apology.
Camula was taken aback; she had never before received something without expecting anything in was used to taking things; she was used to deals and contracts, so to receive sudden generosity, with no strings attached...
She shook her head; She got what she wanted. Now it's time to get her what she needs. And this clumsy fool is a perfect target.
"Thanks, but I feel so greedy for taking this, how about a duel for it? That would make it fair and fun!" Camula suggested with an upbeat tone, going back to her bubbly façade.
Orion tilted his head at her curiously, but after a moment of thought, said, "Alright, that does sound kind of fun... I won't go easy on you though," Orion declared with a nod, once again more to himself than to Camula.
"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Camula replied cheerfully, stowing away a devious laugh.
'This is going to be easy...You will have your soul soon enough, Light of Destruction!' She mused with a wicked smile, 'innocently' leading the clueless Orion back to the dirt path.